Child safety seat

ABSTRACT

A child safety seat includes a seat shell having two sidewalls respectively provided at a left and a right side of the seat shell for restricting sideways movement of a child sitting on the seat shell, the two sidewalls including a first and a second sidewall, a buffering part movably connected with the seat shell, the buffering part being movable between a stowed position retracted toward the first sidewall and a deployed position protruding sideways from the first sidewall, a spring for biasing the buffering part toward the stowed position, and a latching mechanism including a latch carried with the buffering part, the latch being movable between a locking state for locking the buffering part in the deployed position and an unlocking state for unlocking the buffering part so that the buffering part is rotatable relative to the seat shell.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority to Chinese patent application no.201910650374.0 filed on Jul. 18, 2019.

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to child safety seats.

2. Description of the Related Art

A child safety seat is typically used in an automobile vehicle torestrain a child in the event of accidental collision. In particular,the child safety seat can provide protection by restraining the childfrom moving forward or rearward when the vehicle is subjected to frontalor rear collision.

In addition to providing protection during frontal and rear collision,some child safety seat may further include a side impact protectionstructure adapted to dissipate crash energy induced by vehicle sidecollision. The side impact protecting structure is generally provided ona sidewall of the child safety seat, and includes a protecting elementrotatable to retract for storage or deploy for use. When the protectingelement is in the retracted position, a locking mechanism may beprovided to lock the protecting element in position. In order to use theprotecting element, a button has to be operated to unlock the protectingelement, which then can be deployed thanks to the biasing force of aspring. Unfortunately, this conventional construction is relativelycomplex and and may not be convenient to operate in practice.

Therefore, there is a need for an improved child safety seat having aside impact protection mechanism that is simple in construction, easy tooperate, and address at least the foregoing issues.

SUMMARY

The present application describes a child safety seat having a sideimpact protection mechanism that is adapted to provide protection duringvehicle side collision and can be stowed for compact storage anddeployed in a convenient manner.

According to an embodiment, the child safety seat includes a seat shellhaving two sidewalls respectively provided at a left and a right side ofthe seat shell for restricting sideways movement of a child sitting onthe seat shell, the two sidewalls including a first and a secondsidewall, a buffering part movably connected with the seat shell, thebuffering part being movable between a stowed position retracted towardthe first sidewall and a deployed position protruding sideways from thefirst sidewall, a spring for biasing the buffering part toward thestowed position, and a latching mechanism including a latch carried withthe buffering part, the latch being movable between a locking state forlocking the buffering part in the deployed position and an unlockingstate for unlocking the buffering part so that the buffering part isrotatable relative to the seat shell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of a childsafety seat having a side impact protection mechanism in a stowedposition;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the child safety seat with theside impact protection mechanism in a deployed position;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of the child safety seat withone side impact protection mechanism in the stowed position;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of portion A shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view of the child safety seat withthe side impact protection mechanism in the deployed position;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of portion B shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the side impact protectionmechanism alone in the deployed position;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the side impact protectionmechanism alone in the stowed position;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view illustrating a mount base used forassembling the side impact protection mechanism with a seat shell of thechild safety seat;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating some construction details ofthe side impact protection mechanism;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the side impact protectionmechanism;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view illustrating a variant construction of theside impact protection mechanism including a release actuator;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the side impact protectionmechanism shown in FIG. 12; and

FIG. 14 is another cross-sectional view of the side impact protectionmechanism shown in FIG. 12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are two perspective views illustrating an embodiment of achild safety seat 100. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the child safety seat100 can include a seat shell 102, a support base 104 provided at abottom of the seat shell 102 for supporting the seat shell 102, and twoside impact protection mechanisms 50 respectively coupled to the seatshell 102 at a left and a right side thereof. The seat shell 102 canhave a seat portion 10 and a backrest portion 30 fixedly connected witheach other. For example, the seat shell 102 may be integrally formed toinclude the seat portion 10 and the backrest portion 30. The seat shell102 can further include two sidewalls 31 respectively provided at a leftand a right side of the seat shell 102. The two sidewalls 31 can befixedly connected with the backrest portion 30, respectively projectforward from the backrest portion 30 at the left and right sides of theseat shell 102, and extend from a top of the backrest portion 30 towardthe seat portion 10. The two sidewalls 31 can restrict sidewaysmovements of a child sitting on the seat shell 102 between the twosidewalls 31.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the two side impact protection mechanisms 50at the left and right sides of the seat shell 102 can have a sameconstruction, and can be respectively disposed at symmetric positions onthe two sidewalls 31 of the backrest portion 30. More specifically, eachsidewall 31 can have an opening 33 provided at an outer side thereof forreceiving the assembly of the corresponding side impact protectionmechanism 50. In conjunction with FIGS. 1 and 2, FIGS. 3-6 arecross-sectional views illustrating one side impact protection mechanism50 assembled with the seat shell 102, and FIGS. 7-14 are various viewsillustrating various construction details for the side impact protectionmechanism 50. Referring to FIGS. 3-14, the side impact protectionmechanism 50 can include a buffering part 53 and a spring 57.

The buffering part 53 is movably connected with the seat shell 102, andmay have any suitable construction adapted to provide cushioningeffects. According to an example of construction, the buffering part 53may include multiple casing portions that are fixedly attached to oneanother. Examples of suitable materials for making the buffering part 53may include, without limitation, plastics. The buffering part 53 ismovable relative to the seat shell 102 at the outer side of the sidewall31. For example, the buffering part 53 can move between a stowedposition shown in FIG. 1 and a deployed position shown in FIG. 2. In thestowed position, the buffering part 53 may be retracted toward thesidewall 31 and substantially received inside the opening 33 for compactstorage. In the deployed position, the buffering part 53 may protrudeoutward and sideways from the sidewall 31, e.g., substantiallyperpendicular to the sidewall 31. During sideways collision, thebuffering part 53 in the deployed position may be pressed against avehicle body (e.g., a vehicle door panel) and consequently deform, crushand/or cause a portion of the seat shell 102 around the buffering part53 to deform for dissipating a portion of the impact energy.

According to an example of construction, the buffering part 53 may bepivotally connected with the seat shell 102. For example, a mount base51 can be fixedly connected with the sidewall 31 of the seat shell 102,and the buffering part 53 can be pivotally connected with the mount base51. The buffering part 53 can thus rotate relative to the seat shell 102between the stowed position and the deployed position. The pivot axis Xabout which the buffering part 53 rotates relative to the seat shell 102may extend generally along a longitudinal direction of the backrestportion 30.

Referring to FIGS. 7-14, the mount base 51 can include one or moreflange 513 for facilitating the attachment of the mount base 51 to theseat shell 102. For example, the mount base 51 can be placed in theopening 33 of the sidewall 31, and a fastener may be engaged through theflange 513 with the seat shell 102 for fixedly attaching the mount base51 to the seat shell 102. Moreover, the mount base 51 can include apivot support portion 511 having a hole 5113 (better shown in FIG. 9).The mount base 51 including the flange 513 and the pivot support portion511 may be formed integrally as a single part. The pivot support portion511 may exemplarily have a generally cylindrical shape. A pivot axle 52may be assembled through the hole 5113 of the pivot support portion 511and a hole 537 provided on the buffering part 53 for pivotallyconnecting the buffering part 53 with the pivot support portion 511 ofthe mount base 51. For example, the hole 537 may be exemplarily formedthrough two sidewalls 532 of the buffering part 53 that face each otheracross a cavity 535, the buffering part 53 may be mounted to the mountbase 51 with the pivot support portion 511 at least partially receivedin the cavity 535 of the buffering part 53, and the pivot axle 52 can beassembled through the sidewalls 532 and the pivot support portion 511inside the cavity 535.

Referring to FIGS. 10, 11 and 14, the spring 57 can apply a biasingforce on the buffering part 53 for facilitating the movement of thebuffering part 53 toward the stowed position. According to an example ofconstruction, the spring 57 may be a torsion spring disposed around thepivot axle 52, and may be respectively connected with the mount base 51and the buffering part 53. The spring 57 can thereby bias the bufferingpart 53 toward the stowed position.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6-11, the side impact protection mechanism 50can further include a latching mechanism for locking the buffering part53 in the deployed position. This latching mechanism can include a latch55 and one or more spring 59.

The latch 55 can be carried with the buffering part 53, and can movebetween a locking state where the latch 55 is engaged with the mountbase 51 (better shown in FIG. 6) for locking the buffering part 53 inthe deployed position, and an unlocking state where the latch 55 isdisengaged from the mount base 51 (better shown in FIG. 4) for unlockingthe buffering part 53 so that the buffering part 53 can rotate relativeto the seat shell 102. According to an example of construction, thelatch 55 can be slidably connected with the buffering part 53, and canslide to engage with or disengage from a locking slot 5111 provided onthe pivot support portion 511, wherein the latch 55 is engaged with thelocking slot 5111 in the locking state and disengaged from the lockingslot 5111 in the unlocking state. For example, the latch 55 can bereceived at least partially in a hollow interior 531 of the bufferingpart 53, and can slide relative to the buffering part 53 to protrudeoutside the hollow interior 531 for engaging with the locking slot 5111or to retract toward the hollow interior 531 for disengaging from thelocking slot 5111. The latch 55 may slide along an axis that issubstantially orthogonal to the axis defined by the pivot axle 52.

The spring 59 can bias the latch 55 toward the locking state. Accordingto an example of construction, the spring 59 can be disposed in thehollow interior 531 and have two opposite ends respectively connectedwith the latch 55 and an inner sidewall of the hollow interior 531 inthe buffering part 53. For facilitating the connection of the spring 59with the latch 55, the latch 55 can have protrusion 553 to which isanchored the spring 59. In the illustrated embodiment, two springs 59are provided to bias the latch 55 toward the locking state. It will beappreciated, however, that the spring 59 may be provided in any suitablenumber.

The latching mechanism provided in the buffering part 53 may include astructure that allows easy unlocking of the buffering part 53 bydirectly operating the buffering part 53. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6,when the buffering part 53 is locked in the deployed position with thelatch 55 engaged with the locking slot 5111, the engaged end of thelatch 55 can have a bevel 551 that lies adjacent to a bevel 533 providedin the locking slot 5111. For stowing the buffering part 53, a caregivercan directly rotate the buffering part 53 from the deployed positiontoward the stowed position, which causes a sliding contact between thebevels 551 and 533 that urges the latch 55 to disengage from the lockingslot 5111 and thereby unlocks the buffering part 53. The biasing forceof the spring 57 then can urge the unlocked buffering part 53 to rotateto the stowed position.

In addition to or alternative to the aforementioned structure forunlocking the buffering part 53, the latching mechanism provided in thebuffering part 53 may include a release actuator 58. Referring to FIGS.12-14, the release actuator 58 is connected with the latch 55, and isoperable to urge the latch 55 to move from the locking state to theunlocking state. According to an example of construction, the releaseactuator 58 can be slidably locked with the latch 55. For example, therelease actuator 58 can have one or more stud 581 that is respectivelydisposed through one or more guide slot provided in the buffering part53 and is respectively engaged with one or more restricting opening 555provided in the latch 55, whereby the release actuator 58 and the latch55 can slide in unison relative to the buffering part 53 between thelocking state and the unlocking state. For facilitating the placement ofthe release actuator 58, the buffering part 53 may have an opening 539,and the release actuator 58 may be received at least partially in theopening 539. For example, the release actuator 58 may include an oblongshape received in the opening 539. According to an example ofconstruction, the release actuator 58 can be exposed and accessible foroperation on an inner side of the buffering part 53 when the bufferingpart 53 is in the deployed position, and can be concealed in the opening33 of the sidewall 31 when the buffering part 53 is in the stowedposition.

Exemplary operation of the side impact protection mechanism 50 isdescribed hereinafter with reference to FIGS. 1-14. When the childsafety seat 100 is unused and has no child placed thereon, the bufferingpart 53 at each of the left and right sides of the seat shell 102 can bedisposed in the stowed position in the opening 33 for convenientstorage. The buffering part 53 may be kept in the stowed position by thebiasing force of the spring 57.

When the buffering part 53 is to be used, a caregiver can grasp androtate the buffering part 53 against the biasing force of the spring 57from the stowed position toward the deployed position. As the bufferingpart 53 rotates relative to the seat shell 102 and the mount base 51,the latch 55 moves along with the buffering part 53 and is in slidingcontact with an outer surface of the pivot support portion 511 owing tothe biasing force of the spring 59. When the buffering part 53 reachesthe deployed position, the latch 55 can engage with the locking slot5111 under the biasing force of the spring 59 and thereby lock thebuffering part 53 in position.

For stowing the buffering part 53, the caregiver may directly rotate thebuffering part 53 an angle from the deployed position toward the stowedposition, which can result in the latch 55 disengaging from the pivotsupport portion 511 of the mount base 51 owing to the sliding contactbetween the bevels 551 and 533. Alternatively, the caregiver may operatethe release actuator 58 to disengage the latch 55 and unlock thebuffering part 53. Under the biasing force of the spring 57, theunlocked buffering part 53 then can rotate to the stowed position forcompact storage.

Advantages of the child safety seat described herein include a sideimpact protection mechanism that is simple in construction and can bestowed and deployed in a convenient manner.

Realization of the child safety seat has been described in the contextof particular embodiments. These embodiments are meant to beillustrative and not limiting. Many variations, modifications,additions, and improvements are possible. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope ofthe inventions as defined in the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A child safety seat comprising: a seat shellhaving two sidewalls respectively provided at a left and a right side ofthe seat shell for restricting sideways movement of a child sitting onthe seat shell, the two sidewalls including a first and a secondsidewall; a buffering part movably connected with the seat shell, thebuffering part being movable between a stowed position where thebuffering part is retracted toward the first sidewall, and a deployedposition where the buffering part protrudes sideways from the firstsidewall; a spring connected with the buffering part, the spring biasingthe buffering part toward the stowed position; and a latching mechanismincluding a latch carried with the buffering part, the latch beingmovable relative to the buffering part between a locking state forlocking the buffering part in the deployed position and an unlockingstate for unlocking the buffering part so that the buffering part isrotatable relative to the seat shell.
 2. The child safety seat accordingto claim 1, wherein the buffering part is pivotally connected with theseat shell.
 3. The child safety seat according to claim 1, wherein theseat shell has a backrest portion, and the buffering part is rotatablerelative to the seat shell about a pivot axis that extends generallyalong a longitudinal direction of the backrest portion.
 4. The childsafety seat according to claim 1, wherein the latching mechanism furtherincludes a second spring connected with the latch and the bufferingpart, the second spring being operable to bias the latch toward thelocking state.
 5. The child safety seat according to claim 1, whereinthe latch is slidably connected with the buffering part.
 6. The childsafety seat according to claim 1, wherein the latching mechanism furtherincludes a release actuator connected with the latch, the releaseactuator being operable to urge the latch to move from the locking stateto the unlocking state.
 7. The child safety seat according to claim 6,wherein the release actuator is concealed in an opening of the firstsidewall when the buffering part is in the stowed position, and exposedfor operation when the buffering part is in the deployed position. 8.The child safety seat according to claim 6, wherein the release actuatoris slidably locked with the latch.
 9. The child safety seat according toclaim 1, wherein the first sidewall of the seat shell is fixedlyconnected with a mount base having a pivot support portion, and thebuffering part is pivotally connected with the pivot support portion,the latch being engaged with a locking slot provided on the pivotsupport portion for locking the buffering part in the deployed position.10. The child safety seat according to claim 9, wherein when thebuffering part is locked in the deployed position with the latch engagedwith the locking slot, an engaged end of the latch has a first bevelthat lies adjacent to a second bevel provided in the locking slot, and arotation of the buffering part from the deployed position toward thestowed position causes a sliding contact between the first and secondbevels that urges the latch to disengage from the locking slot.
 11. Thechild safety seat according to claim 1, wherein the first sidewall ofthe seat shell is fixedly connected with a mount base having a pivotsupport portion, and the buffering part is pivotally connected with thepivot support portion via a pivot axle, the spring being a torsionspring disposed around the pivot axle.
 12. The child safety seataccording to claim 11, wherein the buffering part has two sidewalls thatface each other across a cavity, the buffering part being mounted to themount base with the pivot support portion at least partially received inthe cavity of the buffering part.
 13. A child safety seat comprising: aseat shell having two sidewalls respectively provided at a left and aright side of the seat shell for restricting sideways movement of achild sitting on the seat shell, the two sidewalls including a first anda second sidewall; a buffering part movably connected with the seatshell, the buffering part being movable between a stowed position wherethe buffering part is retracted toward the first sidewall, and adeployed position where the buffering part protrudes sideways from thefirst sidewall; a spring connected with the buffering part, the springbiasing the buffering part toward the stowed position; and a latchingmechanism including a latch carried with the buffering part, and arelease actuator connected with the latch, the latch being movablebetween a locking state for locking the buffering part in the deployedposition and an unlocking state for unlocking the buffering part so thatthe buffering part is rotatable relative to the seat shell, and therelease actuator being operable to urge the latch to move from thelocking state to the unlocking state, the release actuator beingconcealed in an opening of the first sidewall when the buffering part isin the stowed position, and exposed for operation when the bufferingpart is in the deployed position.
 14. The child safety seat according toclaim 13, wherein the release actuator is slidably locked with thelatch.
 15. The child safety seat according to claim 13, wherein thelatch is slidably connected with the buffering part.
 16. A child safetyseat comprising: a seat shell having two sidewalls respectively providedat a left and a right side of the seat shell for restricting sidewaysmovement of a child sitting on the seat shell, the two sidewallsincluding a first and a second sidewall, the first sidewall of the seatshell being fixedly connected with a mount base having a pivot supportportion; a buffering part pivotally connected with the pivot supportportion, the buffering part being movable between a stowed positionwhere the buffering part is retracted toward the first sidewall, and adeployed position where the buffering part protrudes sideways from thefirst sidewall; a spring connected with the buffering part, the springbiasing the buffering part toward the stowed position; and a latchingmechanism including a latch carried with the buffering part, the latchbeing movable between a locking state for locking the buffering part inthe deployed position and an unlocking state for unlocking the bufferingpart so that the buffering part is rotatable relative to the seat shell,the latch being engaged with a locking slot provided on the pivotsupport portion for locking the buffering part in the deployed position.17. The child safety seat according to claim 16, wherein when thebuffering part is locked in the deployed position with the latch engagedwith the locking slot, an engaged end of the latch has a first bevelthat lies adjacent to a second bevel provided in the locking slot, and arotation of the buffering part from the deployed position toward thestowed position causes a sliding contact between the first and secondbevels that urges the latch to disengage from the locking slot.
 18. Thechild safety seat according to claim 16, wherein the buffering part ispivotally connected with the pivot support portion via a pivot axle, thespring being a torsion spring disposed around the pivot axle.
 19. Thechild safety seat according to claim 18, wherein the buffering part hastwo sidewalls that face each other across a cavity, the buffering partbeing mounted to the mount base with the pivot support portion at leastpartially received in the cavity of the buffering part.
 20. The childsafety seat according to claim 16, wherein the latching mechanismfurther includes a second spring connected with the latch and thebuffering part, the second spring being operable to bias the latchtoward the locking state.